By: Shelby Hart
The ACT is, unfortunately, a necessary evil that those of us who wish to go to college must face. Take it once, take it twice, take it five times. Either way, no one really looks forward to it. Wise students study for the test weeks, even months in advance. Some choose to take the ACT Prep course offered here at Oak Park, some form study groups, pull all-nighters, etc. It’s its own phenomenon for high schoolers whose futures include the next level of education and it’s not going away any time soon.
As far as my thoughts, I fall somewhere near “Ugh, the ACT”. I know it’s coming, I know I have to take it to even be considered for college, but I’m not exactly putting my nose to the grindstone preparing for it, at least not at the moment. I plan on taking it once, maybe twice, next semester, and once in the fall of my senior year. Teachers and counselors and other students tell us to take it more than once. It’s sensible to take it multiple times, that way you’re not stuck with the one score, if it happens to be poor. Plus, the more experience you get, the more familiar you become with the test, the format, and the less you completely dread it, hopefully.
This college admissions test doesn’t have to be as bad or as scary as some make it. Be proactive. Take the ACT Prep class, try out a practice test, get a group of friends together and brush up on your geometry or freshman year physics. If you go into the test unprepared and you get a bad score, you’ve only got yourself to blame. I, myself, plan on taking the prep course first semester of my senior year because I couldn’t fit it in anywhere else in my schedule. I’ll talk to friends before I take the ACT for the first time, get their opinions and tips. I won’t let myself go into it blind, because higher education is something I value. If you’re the same way, take some of the suggestions I mentioned.